The Shortest Subject In The Universe
Well, maybe I'm forgetting "Radical Islamist Strippers." But, "Feminist Humor" is probably right up there in brevity. This comment from Crid on the Dove/Axe entry reminded me of that:

> feminists actually DO
> have a sense of humor.

HOLY SHIT! Can't believe I missed that on the first read!

Share, Shinobi! Give us an example of an explosive feminist laugh for it's own sake... A line without the pointed subtext of expressing the hurt from some external social injustice...

I've been waiting almost five decades for this. It's going to be great!

Yes, do share. If that's even possible. (One link per comment, please, if you include links. If you want to post two links, make two comments. My anti-spam software is about as relaxed as Amanda Marcotte.)

Funnily enough, deja, I saw "Born Yesterday" (1950) a few days ago with Judy Holliday. Didn't know the film, didn't even really know who Holliday was (now I do, of course). I was absolutely stunned by her sexy, comic force - & loved the fact that she blew away all the other grande dames that year by nabbing the Oscar for an ostensibly daft role.

Jody Tresidder
at October 13, 2007 10:20 AM

I call Marcotte the "Cat lady" because her Flickr account is 80% pictures of her cats. I can see her stroking her kitties while saying "who needs some vile, smelly man when I have you Mr. Whiskers."

Jordan
at October 13, 2007 10:25 AM

That's hilarious, Jordan. I guess jokes ABOUT feminists are the best we'll be able to do.

Two Southern Belles are having lunch and one says to the other, "Livvy, how DO you keep your skin so soft, do tell!"

Livvy says, "Why Magnolia, because you are my very DEAREST friend, I will give you my secret: every night I bathe in milk."

So Magnolia heads straight to the market after lunch and signals the stock clerk, "Son, son, come here. I need fifty gallons of milk. You see, I'm going to bathe in it to make my skin soft and lovely."

The clerk drawls, "Ok, ma'am. You need that milk pasturize?"

"Oh, no" she replies, "just up to my titties and then I'll splash it on my face."

I'm a little late to the game, but I'd submit the entire first season of "30 Rock" as an 11 hour demonstration of feminist humor in action.

From first to last, the show continuously makes the point that women can do anything men can do -- including making disastrous romantic choices and poor career decisions -- get mocked for it and not crumple into a tiny pile of ashes. It's also, the first sitcom in 10 years that I watch faithfully every week.

A few choice lines:

NBC CEO Jack Donaghy, speaking to Liz, executive producer of "30 Rock": I like you. You have the boldness of a much younger woman.

Liz, speaking to her scantily clad assistant: Cerie, seriously, take that off. You need to dress like you have a job. And parents, who raised you in some kind of shame-based American religious tradition.

Jack, re: a pudgy actress: She needs to lose thirty pounds or gain sixty. Anything in between has no place on television.

And lastly, this exchange between Liz and Steven, a black man she's dated, only to discover a complete lack of chemistry:

Liz: I truly don't like you as a person. [inspirational music starts playing] Can't one human being not like another human being? Can't we all just not get along?
Steven: Liz, I wish it could be like that...and maybe someday our children or our children's children will hate each other like that, but it just doesn't work that way today.
Liz: So what you're saying is that any woman that doesn't like you is a racist.
Steven: No, no, no, no, no. [music stops] Some women are gay.

It doesn't happen very often, but I've come across some good humor in feminist circles. Back in the 80s, a feminist arts journal called "Heresies" had a cartoon that showed a room full of ovens and women on their knees. The women were sticking their heads into the ovens, and there was a banner hanging from the ceiling over them that said "The Sylvia Plath Bake-Off."

Lena Cuisina
at October 14, 2007 3:21 PM

It's still backhanded... You wouldn't think it was funny if you weren't a survivor... Nothing is more important to the adolescent teenager than pretending that something precious has been squandered by a world that doesn't care.

Crid
at October 14, 2007 8:45 PM

Allright, adolescent teenager is redundant, but I had a glass of cab tonight. The point is...

Crid
at October 14, 2007 8:49 PM

"You wouldn't think it was funny if you weren't a survivor."

I thought it was funny because some people take Plath so seriously. There's something slightly naughty about making fun of suicide. And poetry fueled by phenobarbital. And faces streaked by mascara-colored tears.

Lena
at October 15, 2007 8:10 AM

And brown paper packages tied up with string... These are a few of my favorite things!